9 Signs Your Home is a Hipster
There’s no getting around it - inside everyone one of us, there’s a hipster trying to tunnel their way out. From embellishing our musical collections to feeding our fascination with old-school tech, we’re all prone to some pseudo-bohemian behaviour - and this is truer than ever when it comes to home design.
Today we’re putting your homes under the microscope to see what dirty little secrets we find. After that, we’ll give you some cheeky tips designed to help you unleash your inner hipster the healthy way.
You’re a lover of all things rustic.
Crude, chunky dining tables and muted colour schemes are a staple of any hipster home. Whether you’re channelling that rural farmhouse aesthetic or painting from a prescribed palette of browns, beiges and creams, we’re willing to bet you’d say your interests include ‘rustic decor’.
Do it yourself: online cornucopia Folksy brings rugged furniture to the masses, with an immense catalogue of artful one-offs, hidden treasures and reclaimed pieces available for any rustic furniture worshippers.
You live for dead technology.
From the gramophone to the infamous Kit-Cat Clock, honorary hipster homes are populated with outdated tech on the basis that it’s just so darn characterful. Whether it’s the authentic crackle of an original LP or the curiosity of an old and unused typewriter, there’s just something about dead technology that brings that instant retro aesthetic into any home design.
Do it yourself: let Urban Outfitters be your guide to the old-school tech movement, offering access to record players, Polaroid cameras and all manner of kitschy wall clocks. That way, you can keep a tight grip on your pseudo-nostalgia without losing touch with the 21st century.
You’re a pop culture appropriator.
Transforming your home into a den of niche music, film and TV references is a great way to express yourself - that is, as long as the references are remotely meaningful to you. One of the ultimate hipster sins is appropriating pop culture under false pretenses - so get your eyes off IMDB’s Top 250 and do you.
Do it yourself: Red Candy is a vibrant online toy box, bursting with cool and quirky decor solutions. Saying goodbye to beige, the nifty online store is every pop culture lover’s paradise - with a range of interior treats including stylish Big Lebowski prints and framed Banksy masterpieces.
You reduce, reuse and upcycle.
The upcycling movement shows no signs of losing momentum, with craft-obsessed bloggers helping the hipster homeowner turn something old into something new. From creative conversions to ‘distressed’ redesigns, upcycled furniture is your key to neo-retro glory - letting your guests know you’d rather spend more on a repurposed piece that ‘has stories to tell’ than a generic, mass-produced alternative.
Do it yourself: Remade in Britain is an online treasure trove of upcycled goodies just waiting to bring some character to your hipster home. Covering everything from shabby chic furniture options to quirky homeware made from 100% recycled materials, this specialist site is your one stop shop for all things previously loved.
You’re into the ‘showroom’ look.
In any real life home, there are imperfections, guilty pleasures and unmentionables - but not here. Take the bookshelf, for example: rather than childhood favourites, raggedy old re-reads and carefully preserved relics, the hipster bookshelf is a meticulously organised archive of Penguin Classics and cult novels designed to paint a picture of someone with their finger on the pulse of the alternative entertainment scene.
Do it yourself: your nearest Waterstones is a Penguin reader’s paradise, with ‘cult’ favourites like On the Road, 1984 and the Great Gatsby available in special editions that are nothing short of a sight for sore eyes.
You’ve got a taste for bad taste.
Kitsch is the design movement we all love to hate - except, of course, for hipsters who love garish oddities without exception or embarrassment. If you’ve got an appetite for excess, kicking the kitsch up a notch could make or break your interior design depending on the dosage. Exercise some self-control for a striking outcome that’s over-the-top without being overwhelming.
Do it yourself: inject some colour into any room by taking a leaf out of the Oliver Bonas book. Here you’ll find a glorious array of kitschy treats designed to liven up any living space, from psychedelic neons to gloriously gaudy floral prints - each product bringing the best aspects of kitsch together in one very pretty package.
Your lighting solutions are somewhat unorthodox.
No beatnik home would be complete without an irrational, off-the-wall approach to electricals - and if your lighting solutions revolve around suspended and exposed lightbulbs, you’re definitely guilty. Now being adopted by independent bars and boutiques nationwide, the crude lighting movement has transcended the hipster world and entered the tangible universe.
Do it yourself: to illuminate your living space, head to the Cox & Cox site. Their collection of unmistakably neo-retro lighting options includes filament bulbs, carnival lights and even a cheeky candelabra - meaning every hipster at heart can find a decorative solution to lighting up their home.
You love putting things inside other things.
Storage solutions can be incredible space-savers, but it’s a whole other thing when you’re buying new stuff just to have something to fill your collection of quirky receptacles. Mason jars are the staple of hipster home living, housing assorted stationery, aromatherapy options and cute terrariums across the world. And with these mass-produced jars reaching stratospheric levels of popularity, it’s no wonder Douwe Egberts is in the highest demand it’s ever been.
Do it yourself: if you’re a slave to the mason jar, check out Hobbycraft’s sensational range of vintage-style jam jars available in matching sets or as one powerful weapon in your interior arsenal. On top of that, you’ll find a kooky collection of characterful homeware solutions guaranteed to bring some cuteness to your home’s quirk.
Your home is a living, breathing photo album.
From brooding cityscapes and arty black-and-white portraits to sunkissed holiday snaps and glorified food porn, Instagram prints are non-negotiable as far as hipster homes go. No longer content with battling for ‘likes’ online, the regramming masses are now bringing their latest photographic works into the home.
Do it yourself: if you live life in a series of still images, Shutterfly is the best site you’re yet to visit. Offering a near-infinite array of quirky photo printing options for the home, the online store is an Instagram addict’s playground - bringing a world of personalised printing services to the home-loving hipster.
Ready for your next source of interior design inspiration? Check out the rest of our journal for red hot updates and expert insight on all things in the home.